SNOOKER

Ronnie O'Sullivan again warned he was ready to quit snooker after progressing to the world championship final against Ali Carter, which starts at the Crucible in Sheffield on Sunday.

O'Sullivan crushed Matthew Stevens 17-10 and Carter was a 17-12 winner against Stephen Maguire, to set up an all-English battle for the title.

O'Sullivan said after his victory that he is seriously considering following Stephen Hendry into retirement. "I don't intend to stay in the game long, even though I feel in a lot better place," O'Sullivan said. "I've made that decision and this might – I'm not saying it is – be my last time in this tournament. I might consider having a good long break, a couple of years off or whatever. I've weighed up the pluses and the minuses and I'm quite comfortable with that decision."

His opponent in this year's final at the Crucible, Carter, will be hoping for a more favourable outcome than when he met O'Sullivan in the 2008 final, having been soundly beaten 18-8 then.

Carter turned a 14-10 overnight lead into a 17-12 triumph over Maguire, whose hopes effectively ended when he lost a dramatic opening frame of the fourth session. Carter, with a 21-point lead, was put in a clever snooker behind the black and failed with six attempts to escape.

After the sixth miss, referee Leo Scullion elected not to call a miss, so Scullion's judgment meant the Scot had to play from where the white finished. Carter went on to win the frame and, ultimately, the match. PA

CYCLING

Geraint Thomas was edged into second place by Taylor Phinney in the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia in Denmark over an 8.7kms time-trial course.

Phinney finished in 10min 26sec with Thomas nine seconds behind.

Phinney will be in pink on Sunday with the Giro remaining in Denmark for a 206km tour through Jutland which takes in long stretches of the road on the west coast when cross-winds are likely to be a factor.

Thomas was satisfied with his opening day's work. He said: "I think I measured it pretty well. I tried to carry my speed through the corners, one or two I could have gone a bit faster but losing by nine seconds, I can't blame it on a couple of corners. " PA

GOLF

Rory McIlroy produced an early surge up the leaderboard on the third day of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, boosting his chances of reclaiming the world No1 spot.

The Northern Irishman, who needs a top-seven finish to dethrone Luke Donald, birdied seven of his first 11 holes – dropping a shot on another – to move 12 under par, one behind leader DA Points. PA

CAGE FIGHTING

The professional cage-fighting debut of Adam Hollioake, the former England one-day cricket captain, ended in a draw on Australia's Gold Coast. Hollioake experienced many dreary stalemates during his career at Surrey but he had to battle from behind after losing the first of three rounds to local Joel Miller in the mixed martial arts format.

Showing superior boxing skills and a powerful right hook, Hollioake finished the stronger despite severe fatigue in the final stages of the bout. He suffered with a couple of punches to the head and regular kicks to the legs. Whether he enters a cage again now depends on his wife, Sherryn. "I don't think she liked it, she was pretty close to the fight," he said. "I'll do what she says." Staff and agencies